


And Murder Is a Potion of Love

by Vertencar



Series: Listen to the Sound of a New Tomorrow [13]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Family, timebaby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 17:02:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15562389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vertencar/pseuds/Vertencar
Summary: When Bill finds herself stranded in a place that is supposed to bring her closer to the Doctor, his most interesting secrets are bound to be discovered…





	And Murder Is a Potion of Love

**Author's Note:**

> Story title by Zack Hemsey with 'Nice To Meet Me'.

— 20 months old —

Bill gasped as she staggered on an unknown ground, the scenery dancing before her eyes.

All her hairs stood on ends and she felt an electricity buzzing around her, enveloping her like the horrible feeling of a wool sweater turning every piece of hair electric. She didn’t want to know what her hair looked like right now, this was a depressing matter to behold.

Squinting her eyes at the bright light, she looked at her surroundings. _Alright, so definitely not in the TARDIS anymore_. Houses lined up before her, the wind laid leaves on the ground and swirled through her hair. The sky was grey with clouds, some of them menacing to break into torrents of rain.

In what sort of—

A shriek left her mouth at the burning pain on her wrist, the device attached to it starting to smoke. "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck." She cried out, struggling to get her wrist out and wriggling in place.

The device fell on the ground with a crack and smoke coming out of it. Bill grimaced at its state. _Sorry_ , she whispered to herself. Breaking the Doctor’s things were never a good thing, even more when one didn’t know what their precise use was.

Lifting her eyes back up to the street around her, she scrutinised her surroundings. So, she thought, _I’m in a street, so, not inside the TARDIS anymore_. She rolled her eyes at her inner thoughts. _Well done, genius!_ She turned on the spot to have a better view of the scenery around her. There wasn’t much out of the ordinary. A row of houses, a park behind her, cars parked in front of the houses. _Seems legit_. And she was in the middle of the road. But the street was dead silent.

A normal boring town then.

_How did I arrive here?_ She bit her lower lip. _No, scratch that, better question yet: Where is here?_ She looked back down at the device. This... _thingy_ brought her here, then the question must be in this thingy. Given the fact that she travelled from the TARDIS to here in a second, she would guess that this was a teleportation device. _This thing is wild!_

She pursed her lips into a frown. _Yeah, but it’s broken down and smoking from all sides_. Meaning… She got there but there was a ninety percent chance she wouldn’t be able to get back on her own, with this device. And taking the bus didn’t seem like an answer either. _Well, fuck, that sounds marvellous_.

She tried to find some clues about where she was. Given by the looks of the cars and the electricity pylons, she didn’t look far from her own time. This, at least, was a relief.

The sky was grey. _Great clue, Bill, wonderful clue_. At least, she could assume she was somewhere in England. A little town in the middle of it, surely. Or something of that sort. But then, she didn’t have a great notion of small English towns. They looked just like any other towns… but far calmer.

A car’s honk startled her and she broke out of her haze. A car was coming right her way. Well, she _was_ in the middle of the road. "Oh God!" She shrieked, hastily crouching down to grab the broken device and run to the nearest pavement.

She breathed out once she was in a safer spot. Pursing her lips, she rolled her eyes. _Yeah, definitely England_.

Where had this device brought her? She looked down at it between her hands. It had stopped smoking and the small screen didn’t survive the fall. She could still make out the word blaring on the screen in red capital letters: _ERROR. Sorry little device_.

There was no need to try for a ride back. Seeing the device’s state, she knew it wouldn’t work. Years of experience with a broken phone told her it was no longer an escape route.

Bill sighed. The only thing left to do was explore her surroundings and hope for a miracle. Fast forward to ten minutes ago, she had activated this device partly out of curiosity but also because she wanted to know more about the Doctor. The word _Doctor_ had been put in a sort of speed dial in it and she wanted to know where it brought her. Frankly, she had thought it would have brought her to the console room. As far as she knew, this was the only home of the Doctor.

Apparently, it wasn’t. Or this place had to do with the Doctor… in some ways… she dearly hoped. The device wouldn’t have brought her here for no reason. There was something behind it, there was always something behind mysterious boring town. _Okay, not always_.

Maybe, she just had to explore a bit. She had activated this device to know a little more about the Doctor, maybe she would discover something. Who knew.

She looked around her. If she was the Doctor, or one of his friends that knew what the Doctor was like, what would attract her in this small town? _Okay, well, it’s just an ordinary town_. Bill swore under her breath. Maybe the Doctor was hiding something in here, he was always hiding something. What clue would give him away?

She moved on the spot, analysing her surroundings. Cars, houses, more cars, more houses, trees, benches, a road, more houses, all the same, for ever the sa—

_Wait_. Bill stopped, her lips pursed into a grin and a laugh threatening to break free. "Why is this front door painted like the exact same colour of the TARDIS?" She mused out loud. It was a bit of an eccentric front door with all the other houses bearing bland white doors. She could not ignore the fact that this screamed of the Doctor’s touch.

And she could not ignore this coincidence.

Bill crossed the street, making sure there was no other car on the road trying to scare her away, and gingerly walked the few steps to the front door. She hesitated for a second. What if it was just a random person and she had overreacted at the sight of the TARDIS blue door? Then she would look stupid, but who cares. And what if it was a psychopath? _Shut up, it’s not a psychopath_. But, what if it _was_? _It’s not, shush and ring that damn doorbell_.

Well, she had nothing to lose. Bill rang the doorbell, timidly waiting for someone to open the door. She heard some distant noises inside the house but the door stayed closed. She frowned, ringing once again.

And with every waiting second she reconsidered her psychopath theory.

She heard someone, grumbling and making their way to the front door. There was a commotion and Bill cringed, fearing for the person on the other side of the door. She heard them grumble under their breath about things she couldn’t begin to comprehend.

The door swung open and Bill had barely an instant to register the man looking somewhat dishevelled in front of her before he started talking in a voice close to a whisper that sounded like reproaches.

"Don’t ring the doorbell! Are you mad?! Do you know how long it took me to—" He paused, his mouth closing abruptly at Bill’s sight, sensing he wasn’t talking to the right person. "And you’re not… Okay…" He breathed out, rolling his eyes with a sigh as he passed his hand through his dishevelled hair. "Sorry." He said with a shake of his head.

Bill opened her mouth for a second, stammering. "Sorry, I— Were you expecting someone? No, wait, sorry, not my place to ask. Don’t answer that?" She closed her mouth. _Well, shit_. She felt her cheeks warming up but shook it out with an internal sigh.

She took a second to take a good look at this man. Sleeves rolled up, suspenders. _Okay_ … A crooked bowtie. _Weird_ …

"No, no." He replied, shaking his head with a small awkward laugh. "They wouldn’t have rang knowing Freya’s sleepi— Uh, never mind." He cleared his throat and straightened, brushing his fringe out of his eyes. "Hi." He said warmly with a smile on his face and and expectant look in his eyes.

"Hi." Bill responded mechanically, gazing at the man for a second before coming back to her senses. "Oh, eh, yeah, yeah, uh…" _Very eloquent, Bill_. What could she say now. She hadn’t realised that someone would actually open the door and ask why she rang the doorbell. Might as well just be straight forward. "Do you know someone named the Doctor?" She blurted out.

The man raised an eyebrow and a smile twitched at the corner of his lips. "You’re talking to him."

Bill opened her mouth, confused. "No, no I mean not a doctor in general. I meant the Doctor, with a capital D. He’s my friend but he doesn’t look like you. We kind of… got separated." _Kind of_. She let out a nervous laugh. "Sorry, I must have…" She trailed out, she must have what?

The man grinned. "Yeah…" He let out the word, leaning on his door. "That sounds like something I’d do." He pushed away from the door and opened it more fully. "Come in." He began to walk away from the door and into his house, beckoning her inside. "Don’t pay attention to the mess, it’s Friday."

Bill frowned, her mouth agape. What was going on? Was she really going to enter a stranger’s house? That sounded like something her mother would have forbidden her to do. But then this guy looked as weird as her Doctor, maybe he could _actually_ help her.

Well, there was only one way to know.

She hastily closed the door behind her and gingerly walked in the direction where the man had disappeared a second ago. She arrived in a kitchen and stood at the threshold, taking in her surroundings. The room looked like an ordinary kitchen, everything was ordinary around here, she really didn’t have anything to worry about.

Bits and stuffs were scattered on the main table, ready to be tinkered. Actually, looking at it this way, all of the things littered on the table looked like things her Doctor would love to tinker with. _Oh jeez_ , she may have stumbled upon something big.

"Come on, take a seat." The man said, himself sitting on a stool opposite her. She walked forward gingerly, sitting on the stool he had pointed to. The man grinned, leaning over his seat, "So," He supported his chin with his hand, gazing at her with curiosity. "Why are you searching for me?"

Bill opened her mouth, thinking for a second. She leaned over, putting her elbows on the table. "Are you really the Doctor, though? Because you don’t look like my Doctor… I don’t know if I can _trust you_ , you know."

The man let out a snort, "I am the Doctor. I can prove it to you, I’ve got my TARDIS." He said pointing out the backyard.

Bill shifted on her seat, cranking her neck to see outside. And there it was, a TARDIS, the exact same she left a few minutes ago. She looked back at the man in front of her, squinting her eyes. _Maybe he stole it_.

As if sensing her thoughts, the man laughed, shaking his head. "I’m more than a thousand years old, I’m a Time Lord with two hearts." He pointed to his chest. "People tell me I have a terrible dress sense and a tendency to talk too much." He mused for a second, "But maybe it’s just this body." He shook his head. "Anyways, I regenerate and am currently in my eleventh body. I’m the Doctor."

Bill didn’t say anything for a few seconds, looking at the man grinning at her. The Doctor. She wanted to know more about the Doctor, maybe she’s stumbled upon something interesting. The Doctor, but not yet _her_ Doctor. "I believe you." She said at last.

The Doctor’s grin broadened, "It’s me, here to help."

"Uhm, so…" She hesitated, placing the device on the table and sliding it in the Doctor’s direction. "I used this… device and now I’m here. Actually, I don’t really know where here is so that’s a bit complicated."

The Doctor examined the device, "You’re in Leadworth." He said absentmindedly, "It’s a small town in England. And it’s the beginning of the 21st century, but judging by your clothes, your accent and the Iphone in your pocket you’re not far off." Looking back up at her, he smiled.

Bill chuckled to herself, nervously picking at the hems of her ripped jeans. "So, what do you think of the state of the device? Do you think it’s fixable?"

He hummed in return. "It’s nothing much, I’ve seen far worse." He made some space on the table and picked up his sonic screwdriver. Bill bit back a smile, if she still had doubt before on the man’s identity now she could only see the Doctor in front of her. "This is a vortex manipulator." He explained. "It enables a person to travel from one place to another in a number of seconds. It’s like the TARDIS, but on your wrist, so yeah it’s a very cool object. But not at cool as the TARDIS, mind you." Bill snorted. "This is Jack’s, where did you find it?"

"On the TARDIS," Bill replied gingerly. "In a room full of weird objects, I just wanted to see what it did. Now I know." She rolled her eyes at her own expense. "Who’s Jack?" She asked, intrigued by this new person in the story.

"No one you need to know." The Doctor deadpanned. She raised an eyebrow at the response and he lifted his eyes to her. "No, really, Doctor’s order. He’s a bad influence... on everyone."

"Okay…" Bill leaned back in her seat, a soft smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "So, can you fix this device so that it brings me back to my time?"

The Doctor nodded, "Oh yes, of course. You have no idea how many times those tiny little devices broke, it’s like kids’ toys. One time it sent me back to prehistoric times, this was a wild run." He laughed to himself.

He set his mind back on fixing the device and the room fell silent. Bill looked at her surroundings, waiting patiently. She would have never imagined the Doctor to live in this kind of life. He was always restless with her, always broody for something and always looking out for danger and delighted when he found some.

Here, he looked more like a normal human, although she knew he wasn’t and he’d never been. Here, she saw a Doctor adapting to a life that was far from the stars and far from danger. This was a new side of the Doctor, she was happy to unveil it.

"So," The Doctor spoke up after a minute. His eyes didn’t leave the device. "The Doctor of yours… are you his companion?" She opened her mouth, unsure of what to say to a Doctor that was not yet her Doctor. "No, don’t answer." The man in front of her said hastily, shaking his head. "I shouldn’t ask about my future, it’s never good to know too much."

Bill closed her mouth, pressing her lips together as she saw the Doctor hesitate with a screwdriver in his hands. She saw him open his mouth slightly and shake his head once again, he rolled his eyes to himself.

"Although I won’t remember this encounter because then I’ll know who you are when I’ll meet you and then it won’t be an encounter on my part but just a… _meeting up again_." He rambled. "I mean, I’m sure you are from my future because I don’t remember you as a past companion and that would be bad if I couldn’t even remember my companions. That would be a bit stupid and quite forgetful of me, which is never a good thing, you know…" He stopped and sighed, lifting his eyes up to Bill with an apologetic look. "Sorry, I’m ranting. Do I still rant in the future?"

Bill made a face, pausing for an instant and pursing her lips. "Yeah…" She drew out the word.

The Doctor tilted his head to the side, hiding a smile. "Yes, well, some things never change."

He fell silent and Bill observed him, tinkering with that screwdriver of his and making that concentrated face that was so familiar to her. His eyes drifted to her for a second but he quickly looked back at his work, his lips stuck in a remnant smile.

"The thing is," He said, his eyes stuck on the device. "I’m not supposed to have any regeneration energy left. And of course you know me from my future so I changed, I regenerated." His brows creased for a second, "This is my last body," He whispered to himself. "And I’m fine with it. Or so I was, before you came by."

He paused and Bill pressed her lips together at the look in his eyes, this wasn’t the look of someone that was happy to know they would live longer after all.

"I don’t want another regeneration, what would I need it for?" He continued, his screwdriver motionless in his hands. "There are some things I want to see as I get older and grey and— and smoochy," A soft and eager smile tugged at the corner of his lips before his eyes got clouded over by melancholy. "There are some people I would never want to outlive." He breathed out, his eyes fixed on a point on the table.

Bill didn’t say a word as she watched the man before her eyes. She could see the Doctor in front of her, not physically speaking but in all the ways he acts. The way he couldn’t stop ranting, the way he fixed objects with his screwdriver and the look of a mad man over his face, the way he talked, all wise and grand.

But the man before her wasn’t _the_ Doctor. He was a normal man, or at least trying to be, living in an ordinary town in England, in an ordinary house with ordinary mess and clutter. This was a man that knew his time was coming short and who embraced it wholly, trying to create a stable life.

What happened to her Doctor?

"What’s your name?" The Doctor asked, breaking the silence. Bill looked back at him, the smile was back on his face.

"Bill Potts."

"Bill Potts." He repeated, drawing out the words as if testing them on his tongue. "Cool name. Nice jacket, too." He pointed his screwdriver to her worn denim jacket and she let out a laugh. He leaned over the table, "You said you found this in a weird room in the TARDIS, what were you doing here? Those rooms are usually from past companions or just rooms I can’t bother to find a use for."

Bill shrugged, "I guess I wanted to know a little more about you. You… You don’t really tell me stuff, you don’t really talk about yourself." She said quietly, hoping he wouldn’t be mad she went searching into his private stuffs.

"Ah," The Doctor leaned back in his seat, a smile tugging at his lips. "I never do, too much to say, too little time to tell. And you see how I ramble, I don’t want my companions dying of old age before my age." He chuckled to himself. "This," He waved his hands around the room. "I know what you’re thinking. This part of my life, you think I’m trying to hide it but I’m not. If you don’t know about it, it’s because you didn’t ask." He winked at her and Bill couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

But then, what _wasn’t_ he trying to hide? This was what Bill wanted to know.

As if on cue, she heard a whine coming from a device, a very human whine. Focusing her gaze on the device for a second, she squinted her eyes at it. Was it a… _a baby monitor_? She wasn’t expert on that kind of stuff, but that sure looked like one of those device that were shown on TV ads. 

"Oops, excuse me for a second." The Doctor said and leaned on his chair to pick up the monitor on the countertop. "Yes, honey, what’s wrong?" His voice had changed tone to something much more childish. Not childish per say, but the voice one would use to talk to a small child… or a cat. She was pretty sure it was a child on the other end of the monitor.

Oh jeez, did the Doctor steal a child?!

She heard whimpers mixed with some child gibberish that the Doctor seemed to understand by the look on his face. He put the monitor down and stood up. "Sorry, I’ll be right back."

Bill nodded but didn’t have time to utter anything before he had gone out of the room. Her mouth slightly ajar, she stayed alone in the kitchen. _Was that what she thought it was?_ Trying to reason with herself, her mind began to swirl with thoughts.

So… She really hoped the Doctor didn’t steal a child. Well, there was another option on why there would be a child in this house… alone with the Doctor. Okay, no, that was a bit scary. Who would leave a child with the Doctor, he seemed to her rather mad and grumpy and… and… Okay, well _this_ Doctor looked very calm, as calm as she could call the Doctor. And he was already living in a house, in a small English town. Anything could happen, who knew.

Maybe some friends of his trusted him enough to let them babysit their child? This was the only explanation she could imagine at that moment.

Turning on her stool, she observed the room around her. There were some pictures on the walls and on the fridge but she couldn’t see them well from her position. She squinted her eyes, there were mostly pictures of a woman with red hair making faces at the camera, sometimes she was accompanied with a man with blond hair looking somewhat forced into the picture.

Bill saw a picture with the two first people accompanied with this incarnation of the Doctor with his arms around— Wait… wait a minute… Was that— Was that the woman that she saw everyday on _her_ Doctor’s desk. The woman with the curly blond hair looking back at her with a cheeky grin. By the look of the picture, the Doctor looked very much smitten with her, very much into her.

This was his wife! The one wife he always talked about indirectly, the one he muttered about when he thought she wasn’t listening. Oh… This was a nice piece of discovery she got there, she would even say it was very, _very_ interesting.

"Sorry." The Doctor reappeared at the doorway and she startled slightly, turning her stool to face him. She was met with the Doctor holding a little girl on his hip, the latter hiding her face in his shirt. The Doctor chuckled, "Excuse her, she just woke up and she’s grumpy."

He went to sit back on his stool and propped the toddler on his lap, brushing the hair back from her face as best he could with the blond curls springing back in place. Bill smiled at the sight of this beautiful little girl and the Doctor looked back at her. She cleared her throat. "This might be a dumb question but… are you a _babysitter_ now? Because I can’t envision _you_ doing that sort of stuff."

The Doctor laughed heartily and shook his head at her question, she frowned. "Well, you could say I’m babysitting her right now, but I’m afraid it’s the wrong term to use when it’s your own baby." Bill opened her mouth, dumbstruck, and the Doctor laughed even more at the face she was making. "This is my daughter, Freya."

Bill smiled at the discovery, she let out a faint chuckle, "Hello, little one." She cooed and Freya hid her face in her father’s chest, sucking her thumb. Her _father_. She knew the Doctor must have been a father once in his life but like every adult she met, whether it being professors or teachers or anything else, she never envisioned them with their children when those were little.

And Freya looked truly beautiful. Bill was happy to discover this side of the Doctor.

The front door opening broke her out of her trance and Bill turned on her stool to see who were the newcomers. "And this is my wife and my mother in law." The Doctor stated, a proud smile on his face. Freya made some babbling noises and the Doctor hummed, "Yes, it’s mummy. With grocery bags full of diapers for you."

Bill sent him a smile before turning round to greet the two women arriving down the hall. She recognised the woman with the long red hair from the pictures on the wall, she looked as lively and she did in those pictures, even when she was portrayed with grocery bags in the hands.

The other woman, Bill recognised her to be the Doctor’s wife, the one he kept talking about. The pictures couldn’t do justice to that head of curls and Bill sensed a pang of jealousy for such beautiful curls. She wondered if she could ever ask advice on hair routine. But now was not the time.

The two women entered the kitchen, their gazes falling on her. She offered them a bright smile, "Hi!" There was an awkward pause where the women placed their grocery shoppings on the countertops, giving her small greeting smiles. Bill considered that having a stranger in your house was not the best of greetings. "Uh, I’m Bill. I’m just passing by, don’t worry I’m not a… _bad person_." This was a way to say one wasn’t a threat in a stranger’s house.

The woman with the curly hair -the Doctor never told her her name- smiled with the beginning of a chuckle at the corner of her lips. She outstretched her hand that Bill hastened to shake. "I’m River, and this is Amy, my mother." She pointed to the redhead behind her and Bill frowned for a second only. "Tell me, did the Doctor compelled you to come and play with him or did you come on your own will?"

"Oi!" The Doctor replied, sending her a shocked look. River turned to him with a wicked smile that turned into mushy one as she stroked her daughter’s cheek, making her giggle in the process. "I’ll have you know Bill came here by herself, she got here with that." He waved the teleportation device close to her face.

"Uh, I got lost actually. It was not my point to arrive here." Bill explained as best she could while she noticed that they weren’t paying attention to her. River’s mother, Amy, threw her an apologetic glance, telling her with her eyes that it had nothing to do with her but more like their general banter.

"Is this Jack’s?" River examined the device before giving it back to the Doctor. She took the squirming and babbling Freya from the Doctor’s arms and blew a raspberry on her stomach, making her giggle. "And ain’t you supposed to be sleeping, little beauty?" Freya giggled even more and River placed her on her hip, giving the crown of her head a kiss. "Serves him right." She said, redirecting her gaze to Bill. "He always leaves his things laying around, it was bound to happen."

With how the Doctor _and_ River depicted this poor guy Jack, Bill felt like she wanted to meet the actual guy to see what could be so mischievous about him.

"Here, Bill, it’s fixed now." The Doctor stood up and rounded the table to come to her side. She stood up too. "It should bring you back to the TARDIS, I can’t predict the time where you came from but rest assured that she will now. She’s the TARDIS, she knows everything." He said matter of factly. Bill saw River roll her eyes behind him.

She wondered if River would remember her, knowing the Doctor would not. Maybe she would see her again some time in the future, she would love that.

The Doctor strapped the device on her wrist and inputted coordinates, before stepping back a step. "Now the only thing you have to do is press this button. You have to be the one to do it, I could very well travel with you if I did, and I don’t really want that." He laughed nervously. He gave her a tight lipped smile. "I guess I will see you in the future, I can already see in you the premises of a good companion. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, even if I’m grumpy in the future I love to talk about myself." He laughed and took another step back. "Even if I tell you the contrary."

Bill smiled and looked at the happy family before her. Yes, she had many questions for her Doctor. She would have so many to last a lifetime. And now was the time to start asking them, she knew he would talk to her now.

"Bye." She whispered.

"See you soon." He replied and she pressed the button, the world dissolving before her eyes to black.

—

Bill reappeared on the TARDIS with a crack of electricity. She looked around her to find the same room she left a few moments ago. She sighed. The room was partly lit with an ancient lamp and the distinct smell of old books emanated from all sides. She was definitely back on the TARDIS, and back at the right time.

Unstrapping the device from her wrist, she placed it on top of a cardboard box full of vinyls. No more reckless things for today. She had a talk to have with the Doctor for now.

Walking out of the room, she closed the door slowly behind her and made her way down the corridors. The lights flickered as she walked and she brushed her hand down the corridor’s wall, a silent greeting to her current TARDIS. Although she wasn’t sure if the TARDIS lived in distinct times or if it was simply out of time.

She passed the console room and went out of the TARDIS. She found herself in the Doctor’s office, where they had the habit of taking tea. Bill smiled, she was back in her time.

The Doctor was seated at his desk, magnifying glasses perched on his nose as he tinkered meticulously with something that she couldn’t decipher with a naked eye. She approached him gingerly and sat on the chair opposite him, not saying a word.

He was too engrossed in his work to notice her but she observed him. There was no doubt that the Doctor she met mere moments ago was the Doctor, his face was different and his clothes were too, as well as his mood and quirks. But he had been the Doctor as the person before her eyes was. The same way he looked when he was fixing something, the intensity in his eyes, the concentration in his mouth.

Bill’s eyes drifted to the pencil box containing all the screwdrivers of his previous incarnations. She saw the one the last Doctor used resting peacefully with the others. The one of this current incarnation resting in his hands at the moment.

Her eyes drifted back to the Doctor, his own eyes flickered to hers for a second before he refocused his gaze on his work. She cleared her throat, asking for his attention. She knew he was listening even if he didn’t look the part.

Leaning slightly forward, she squinted her eyes at him. "Why didn’t you tell me you had a daughter?"

The Doctor looked up slightly, his eyebrows raising. "You never asked."

Bill made a sigh of exasperation, sinking back into her chair with a roll of her eyes. "I don’t know, we’re friends. That’s something you would say to a friend… to, you know, get to know the person a little bit more." The Doctor simply hummed in response and Bill pursed her lips. "I’ve told you everything about myself, about my mother and— and my life. We talked about you, about the fact that you’re a Time Lord and all the crazy things you can do, why did you hide your… your _family_ to me."

"Don’t think I hide it if I don’t talk about it." He said, not even glancing up at her. "I’m a professor, I answer questions. If you’re too afraid to ask the questions I can’t answer them, I’m not a mind reader." He said plainly, and a flicker of a smile crossed his face. "This is why so many students fail, the fear of ridicule."

"Oh, come on. It’s not a math lesson, this is about… _friends_ , talking to each other." Bill replied, straightening on her seat to lean forward.

The Doctor’s eyes flickered to hers, "Ask away then, don’t be shy."

Bill opened her mouth for a second, nothing came out. There were too many questions to ask, she didn’t know where to begin. Her gaze fell on the two portraits on the Doctor’s desk. "I know you have a wife, she’s the one pictured here." She pointed to the woman with the blond curls, a cheeky smile on her face. "River." She whispered, remembering her name. Her gaze turned to the other woman, seemingly younger. "Is the other picture the one of your daughter?"

The Doctor looked up and shook his head. "No, this is my granddaughter, Susan."

Bill frowned, "Why don’t you have a picture of your daughter on your desk, then?"

"Freya stole it." He said simply and Bill raised an eyebrow. The Doctor removed his glasses and dropped his work to direct his full attention to the current discussion. Bill smiled slightly, at least he was ready to talk. "I used to have one before, but you see Freya thought I looked too much of an old nostalgic professor to let this happen. So, she stole it, and blackmails me now and then to get it back." He smiled to himself. "In truth, I have hundreds of pictures of her that I could display, but it’s too much fun to see her trying to control the situation."

Bill smiled and leaned her elbows on the desk. "Why don’t you tell me more often about your daughter? She seems like a badass."

The Doctor laughed and leaned back in his chair. "And a bit too reckless for my protective side."

The door of the office opened, Nardole entered the room with a tray of tea. "I’ve known Miss Freya since she was a baby. She only turned a hundred when I first met her." He placed the tray with a faraway look, a smile tugging at his lips. Bill frowned, oh yeah, _Time Lords_. "She is the perfect combination of both her parents."

"Why haven’t I met her before?" Bill asked, directing her gaze back to the Doctor.

"I don’t know." The Doctor shrugged. "You’re always sleeping."

Bill let out a laugh and shook her head. She fell back into her chair and gazed at the Doctor, a soft smile tugging at the corner of her lips. He gave her an expectant look and she pursed her lips. "You don’t remember the time I went to your house, when you were in your last body and Freya was still a baby."

"I don’t." He stated, pressing his lips together. "I’m not supposed to." He shrugged, his eyes flickering to hers. "But my wife did and she told me about you without telling me who you were. This is why I’ve always had a pull towards you, why I felt like I needed to know you."

Bill smiled slightly, "And your wife… where is she?"

She saw something pass before the Doctor’s eyes, his vision clouding for a flicker of a second. He cleared his throat and straightened in his seat. "She’s a professor, too." Bill’s eyes lit up and she opened her mouth to speak. "No, she’s not teaching here. She’s on the moon, teaching archeology." He rolled his eyes to something Bill couldn’t understand. "And I’m stuck on Earth."

Bill frowned, "You don’t see her." She made the question look like a statement. By the look on his face, she noticed there was something bugging him.

"Oh, I do. We have our ways." He smiled to himself and Bill pressed her lips together to suppress a grimace. He sighed, his smile fading, "Sometimes I feel like she’s too reckless, too. I guess I’m just very protective." He shrugged.

Bill stayed silent for a minute before speaking again. "Why do I feel like there’s more to this reckless and protective combo?"

The Doctor snorted, "This is my duty to worry. With River, it’s always _who’s going to be the more reckless_ and _who will need to save the day_. This is our dynamic." His lips pursed into a smile. "This is who we are." He paused for a second, "A few years ago, we— she got into something she couldn’t get out of, she wasn’t supposed to... win." The same faraway look passed before his eyes and Bill stayed silent. "I knew that she couldn’t win, because it was my past. But… then, I told myself that _No, I don’t want that_. I’m the Doctor and I’m supposed to be clever and save myself out of reckless situations. And back then, and still now, saving her is saving myself. So, that’s what I did." He laughed slightly. "Anyways," He cleared his throat and gave Bill a bright smile. "This is my life," He shrugged, "A part of it, at least. My most treasured part."

"Tell me about it." Bill said eagerly.

He laughed, leaning back into his seat. "Oh, it’s very long and messy. It would take days."

Bill smiled, leaning on his desk with pleading eyes and a cheeky grin. "Good thing we have them, then." She paused and pursed her lips into an expectant smile. "Come on, I want to know more about you."

The Doctor shook his head with a smile. "I wouldn’t even know where to begin."

"Begin with the time you first laid eyes on your wife." She said and he smiled at the thought.

"I don’t want to begin here," He replied but the smile was still on his face. "But, I can tell you about the first time she laid eyes on me." He laughed. "People tell me I’m a good story teller, here’s my cue."

He leaned back on his chair and cleared his throat, a light in his eyes. His eyes flickered back to Bill’s and he smiled cheekily.

"It began with my not-yet-wife trying to poison me with a kiss…"

**Author's Note:**

> The end.
> 
> So, this is where this series stops. This has been a VERY long ride but I've loved every moment of it, and I hope you did too. Now is the final time to tell me what you thought of it in the comments and I'll be glad to hear every each of your thoughts. 
> 
> Till the next time, for now...


End file.
